Whatever Happens, Happens
by Hecadin
Summary: Life and Death are the cycle in life. But can the change the world. Will Eddward find what he's looking for? Or will he be trapped in the weavings of fate?
1. Chapter 1

Eddward looked at himself in the mirror in his pristine bathroom. His face was bruised and his body was sore from an attack by Peter Dilley. Twenty minutes ago he had just been on his way home from work when Peter and his gang appeared out of nowhere.

"Where are you going Pretty Boy? Don't you have some fag's dick to suck?" Peter's sneering struck a nerve with Edd. He was done with Peter's bullshit.

Edd's hand moved on its own accord, rocketing out to his bully's face; only to be stopped by one of his compatriots.

"Ooooooh. Faggot's gotta temper. We better teach him some manners." That's when the gang pounced. Minutes felt like hours as they kicked and punched Edd, unrelenting agony berating his body. The group left once they felt the teen had learned his "lesson".

Edd groaned as he sat up. He checked to see if anything had been broken. Thankfully, everything seemed to be in place. Picking himself up, Edd checked his unbroken watch. The attack had only lasted ten minutes, which meant he was gonna get it Monday.

"Why can't they be civilised?" said to himself, the only reason for the attack was for his sexual orientation. Edd was accustomed to the glaring eyes and whispers. But they still made his blood boil.

Edd cleaned himself up as well as he could. He cleaned the scrapes and small cuts the assailants' boots left. As he exited the bathroom Edd stumbled over one of the five kids in the foster home. Andrea Hill was only six years old but had the wit of a wizened grandmother.

"Eddward, are you okay? You were in the bathroom for a long time."

"I'm alright Sweet Pea. Did you have a good day a school?" The girl nodded and skipped away to her room that she shared with her twin sister, Julia Hill. Julia spoke to no one except for her sister. None of the kids knew why, but their foster parents knew. He stopped by his shared room to say hello to David and Sam. David was lying in bed, his history textbook open to the Egyptians. David Pflum was your typical angsty child in middle school, but was level headed; a surprise for most people who meet him. Sitting at the desk was the final "child", Samuel White. Samuel was in high school with Edd, but whereas Edd was a bookworm in his freshman year, Sam was a popular jock in his senior year. Sam would be leaving after graduation, to go to the military.

Edd made his way downstairs to the sight of his foster parents, Scott and Angie Ray. They were extremely religious and did not tolerate much in their home, even attempting to destroy Harry Potter books from the schools. Scott was sitting in his chair playing World of Warcraft as Angie watched Rachael Ray from the couch, a glass of wine in her hand.

"Eddward. Dinner. Now." Angie snipped from her seat. She didn't look at Edd, she was upset with him. Mainly because Edd was gay and it clashed with her beliefs. Edd glared at the back of her head as he walked to the kitchen.

Pulling out ground beef for Taco Hamburger Helper, Edd started on dinner. Within half an hour, everyone was seated around the table. As they bowed their heads in prayer, Edd wondered on how long he was going to trapped here. Dinner was quiet. No one wanted to bring up the bruises and cuts on Edd's face.

"So, uh, how'd you get those on your face Eddward?" Scott asked.

"I was attacked by some kids from school after work."

"You probably deserved it." Angie muttered.

Edd gave her a dark look. He knew what was coming.

"If you didn't choose to be gay, then you wouldn't have anyone attacking you." Angie stated.

"Being gay isn't a choice Angie. It's who I am."

Angie sighed and looked at him. "I'm not doing this tonight Eddward. Please, just finish your dinner and go to your room." And Edd did just that.

Edd put in his music as he started on his biology homework. It was mid October and he had managed to get behind on his homework.

He finished his backlogged work and checked the time. It was only half past 7. Too early to call it a night. Edd sighed, remembering the times he had with Ed and Eddy. He only saw them at school since his parents meltdown.

His parents had always been workaholics. They were always working on one thing or another. Eventually their lifestyle caught up with them. Both of them had severe mental breakdowns at work. They were bad enough that they were required to go to the psychiatric ward of the hospital. His parents were only supposed to be there for six months, their breakdowns happening in late February. They were currently months overdue, and Edd was getting restless. He was ready to get back to his simple lifestyle back in the cul de sac. Back with friends. Back to his home.

There was a knock at the door that interrupted Edd's reverie. Scott and Angie stepped into the room and sat across from Edd.

"We have some news on your parent's Eddward." Scott said, "But it's not good."

Edd looked at them, his heart pounding in his chest. "What-what happened?"

The foster parents looked at each other. "The psychiatric ward, at the hospital, erupted in flames a few hours ago. None of the patients survived."

Edd's world crumbled. He had no parents. He was stuck. Stuck with these abominable people. He didn't know whether to cry or rage. Scott and Angie rose. "We'll give you time to process. We are deeply sorry for your loss." And they left. No hug or rubbed shoulder. No physical affection ever. Edd went to the bathroom and took some of his sleeping pills, then went to bed. To dreamless sleep. So he didn't have to dream about his parents. Or their deaths.


	2. Chapter 2

Edd awoke in a haze, David gently shaking him.

"Hey Edd. Angie said to not worry about anything for the next week. You know, chores and stuff. She said you'll need your strength for what's next."

Edd nodded and rolled on his side to hide his tears. Tears for his parents. Tears for his home. Tears for what is gone. Tears for his situation. He wasn't going to be able to return to his beloved cul-de-sac. Edd was devastated. David slipped out of the room and shut the door. He look at Andrea and Julia.

"Why don't you two make some pictures for Edd? I'm sure it'll make him feel better."

The girls ran to their room to get started on their project as David went downstairs.

Edd's weeping was interrupted by his phone buzzing. He looked at the screen and saw it was Eddy calling.

"Hello."

"Hey Edd. I heard about the fire. I'm sorry man. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Can you bring back my parents?" Edd snapped.

Eddy was silent on the other side.

"Didn't think so." And he ended the call.

He didn't want apologies. Edd wanted to return to his parents. He wanted to return home.

Hours later, Edd emerged from his bedroom and went to the bathroom. He quickly undressed and turned on the water in the shower to warm up. Once to his desired temperature, Edd stepped in and let the water stream over his body. There was knock on the door and a quick "Please finish soon, dinner is done." Edd let out a sigh and shut the water off and dressed himself in a black t shirt and grey sweats. He put his dirty clothes in the basket in the hallway and went downstairs. Stepping into the kitchen, he smelled the oil from frying chicken and could catch a whiff of something delicious. Looking around he saw a pie cooling and saw Angie at the stove, glass of wine in one hand and tongs in the other as she looked at the hissing pan.

"Good evening Angie. I apologize for not being social." She turned to him.

"It's alright dear. Losing one parent is hard, but losing both? I can't even comprehend it. Go sit on the couch, dinner will be finished shortly."

Flicking through the channels, Edd happened upon the news and gained some hope.

"All patients that died in the fire have been identified. However two patients bodies are missing from the ward. It is now believed that they caused the fire and used the confusion to escape. No names have been released at this time."

 _Could it be my parents?_ Eddward thought. _But if they were unstable, would they be able to pull off an escape like this?_ Now his mind was racing. Edd knew that his parents had been working on something classified for the government, but that was all. _Maybe the government faked it. Maybe, just maybe, they had a threat or discovered something they weren't supposed to know._ Eddward had an idea. He was good with computers and thought it was possible to attempt to hack the government's servers. _But I would need hours of uninterrupted use of a computer, multiple VPNs, and probably read some material about codes and firewalls._ His thoughts were interrupted by Angie announcing dinner. _I'll figure something out. I always have and always will._ Dinner and dessert, which happened to be blueberry pie, was eaten in silence. Afterwards, Angie let Edd know that he had school off for the week and that he had a meeting with his lawyer tomorrow morning. Edd thanked her and went upstairs to bed; hoping that maybe there was some good news to be given tomorrow.

Edd's lawyer, Tim Leerman, sat before him. He was a middle aged man with a receding hairline and an aquiline nose and soft eyes.

"Now Eddward. I have your parents will here. I have reviewed it and everything is in order. The house is yours, along with all their savings, your inheritance. Unfortunately, you cannot use the money until you are eighteen years of age. The house will be locked and will be cleaned weekly by the property custodians, your neighbors the Barrs."

The lawyer chuckled as he placed a stack of letters on the desk between them. "I have also received a dozen different requests on how their estate is to be spread out amongst their families; with all of them being declined." Edd nodded his head, thankful that his parents were smart enough to make a working will.

"What if I were to become an emancipated minor?" Tim raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well, you would be able to inherit the home with no problem. But your monetary inheritance would still be locked from you until you are eighteen."

Edd thought for a moment. "Would it be possible for money to be pulled from my inheritance to pay for necessities in the home? That way, I am not using the money for anything else but to live. I will still work pay for other things like groceries and my phone."

Tim's mind ticked away as it began to follow the young man's thought process. After a few minutes, he nodded. "That could work, but you would need to get emancipation papers signed by your caseworker. Also, after a month, you would check in on to make sure you are living comfortably."

Edd sighed with some relief. "How soon can we get that paperwork over to my caseworker?"

"I will get it drafted now. That way we can explain the situation to her."

"Thank you Tim. You've given me hope again."

"You're welcome. I always found your parents to be wonderful people, so I couldn't simply let you stay in a foster home."

Edd held his breath as his lawyer and his case worker, Edith Maddow, discussed Edd's decision.

"Eddward, are you sure you want to do this? Three years isn't such a long time to wait."

"I'm sure Mrs. Maddow. I've essentially lived on my own for years now, so it won't be nothing new."

"Alright then. I will agree to sign the documents. I will try to get a court date set up for later this week. Did you have any more questions for Mr. Leerman?"

"I do, what of my parent's funeral?"

"Paid for by the hospital. Closed casket. It will be on Saturday Mr. Vincent I bid you farewell and my condolences again."


End file.
